Tourism and Seasonality Issues: A Geographical Study in West Bengal

Tourism is one of the most important industries in the present world. It is considered as an instrument for backward area development. The governments of the third world countries are very much eager to promote tourism for developing the economies of their backward areas. But seasonality is a factor which affects tourism in various magnitudes influencing tourist movement and their comfort levels. Among the various tourism products, cultural tourism, particularly religious tourism and festival tourism have enough inherent strength to cope with seasonality problem at the maximum level. Planning cultural events in the lean months and considering different traditional and folk fairs and festivals as valuable tourism resource, may be regarded as useful strategies for bringing visitors overcoming the seasonality barrier. The visitation to the craft villages and experiencing craft making is another function that can be materialized in the present context. This paper is an attempt to highlight the seasonality issues associated with the tourism promotion in West Bengal with particular reference to religious and cultural events which can play an exceptional role in bringing visitors overcoming the seasonality hindrances.